In the factory of the future, everything will be networked with everything else - including the internet and the cloud. Until now, this has only been a vision, because in industrial reality, two systems are generally used: While Ethernet has long been established as the communication standard at the management level and the control level of the automation pyramid, various fieldbus systems dominate at the field level below. A new infrastructure was needed to enable end-to-end networking. It had to be compatible with the Ethernet networks at the levels above and at the same time be cost-effective and space-saving, as many machines and systems are cramped.